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Saudi Prince's Goal: Topple Assad

Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan is seen at his palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, June 4, 2008. (Hassan Ammar/AP)
Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan is seen at his palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, June 4, 2008. (Hassan Ammar/AP)

As the U.S. weighs its options on Syria, there’s an effort underway by Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan al-Saud, a longtime power player with a Washington scandal in his past, to topple the Assad regime by training Syrian rebels in Jordan.

And, as The Wall Street Journal reports, with “more CIA personnel at the Jordan base than Saudi personnel,” Prince Bandar’s efforts have already drawn the U.S. into what is a regional proxy war between Saudi Arabia and its arch-rival Iran.

Prince Bandar is the former Saudi ambassador to the U.S. and current intelligence chief for Saudi Arabia, and a player in the Iran-Contra arms scandal of the 1980s.

Guest

  • Adam Entous, national security correspondent for The Wall Street Journal. He tweets @adamentous.

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